A few days ago I received an invitation from Pentax to attend a breakfast at one of London’s most luxurious Private Member’s Club, Home House. I could not possibly resist and needed to satisfy my curiousity – not just the opportunity to see what it was like inside the club but being a photography enthusiast, I wondered what Pentax had up its sleeve. I really had no idea what to expect. Early last Thursday morning I made my way down to Home House which is located right behind Selfridges and was made to feel welcome the moment I made my way inside. I was asked to wait near the lobby and was given a cup of tea. The interior is very old English, with grand staircases and high ceilings.
Once the event started, I went into a large room filled with what looked like compact cameras on display but these were no ordinary cameras. There was a short speech and presentation by Pentax’s senior employees, and then we were introduced to Marc Newson who is one of the most accomplished and influential designer of modern times. Famed for his artwork, you will find his work in some of the very best museums including the V&A, MoMA and London’s Design museum. We learnt that Marc had designed Pentax’s newly announced camera, the K-01. The main selling point of this camera is delivering DSLR capabilities in a much smaller camera. It may be the size of a compact camera but you can attach and use a variety of large DSLR type lenses.
I played with the K-01 for a short while and found it very handy to use. Extremely lightweight and easy to hold. The camera supports full HD video recording, HDR, 16 megapixel images and the sensitivity reaches ISO 25600! You can also shoot in RAW which is big bonus. Prices starts from £629.99 for the body on its own (without lens). It should be an interesting year for cameras and has me wondering whether these semi-pro cameras will eventually replace DSLRs. We shall see.
The breakfast was delicious at Home House. I just could not get enough of it!
After the event had finished, I went to look around and rested inside a beautiful drawing room filled with books, magazines and luxury sofas. Every once in a while, a polite member of staff would attend to me asking whether I needed anything. The bar was fantastic – dark and intimate, with neon settings, and three large TV screens on one wall. The club also has a gym, spa, restaurants and more drawing rooms. I need to go back soon!
